With the Block by Block summit behind us, I want to share next steps and activities for the Block by Block network.

I am excited to report that the BxB network will?continue to serve independent publishers and innovators in local news, primarily by providing more training and by fostering ongoing connections.

On Saturday, Janet and Rusty Coats and Vikki Porter of Knight Digital Media Center and I had an exciting conversation about virtual resources we can create based on the curriculum of Block by Block Super Camp.

We’ll also continue the Block by Block blog and the open BxB Resources Facebook group for the time being.

Also, thanks to The Patterson Foundation, we are rebuilding Michele’s List of promising news sites with more detailed profiles of the sites that will be highly searchable. Denise Cheng and I will continue to identify sites to add to the list and to profile. I’ll also continue the annual publisher survey to assess the state of the sector and report on your progress in growing your reach and your revenue. We hope the list will help you connect with publishers who have similar models and challenges as well as fresh ideas.

For the list and in growing the network, I will place a special emphasis next year on ethnic and minority-led media because I think that’s an area where BxB may be collectively missing out on expertise in community connectedness. This fits with my general framing for BxB – it’s about people who have common challenges and goals, not about a particular type of news operation.

Thank you to everyone who participates in Block by Block activities. I learn a lot from you and I’m looking forward to learning together in the future.